Communicating data between two or more devices is commonplace. However, the methods by which communication sessions are established can be, at times, cumbersome for the user.
For example, many web sites require users to login using a unique username/password combination. This allows the website operator to identify and authenticate the user, as well as to track and monitor his or her actions. Users are generally advised to maintain unique username/password combinations for each site to minimize the dangers presented by malicious third party eavesdroppers; however, this creates a burden on the user to remember many different combinations. Some sites allow the use of a service such as OPENID for identification and authentication purposes. Although this greatly reduces the number of username/password combinations a user must remember, it does not eliminate them altogether because a username/password is still needed for OPENID. Further, manually entering a username/password combination is an especially cumbersome process when performed on a handheld device.
Other common activities also require establishing a communications session and identifying and authenticating the user. For example, a person using a debit card or credit card to perform some protected function, such as purchasing an item or withdrawing cash, is normally required to enter a Personal Identification Number (PIN). Further, different PINs are usually required for different cards. This creates an additional burden on the user to remember the PINs in addition to the many username/password combinations.
With Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, a user need not commit such information to memory. Instead, some or all of the information can be stored in memory on the device, such as the user's cellular telephone, and transferred to an NFC reader when the user places the cellular telephone in close physical proximity to the NFC reader. However, the use of NFC technology for performing such functions is limited because NFC enabled devices are not widely deployed.